As someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer in pregnancy, I’m making it my mission to educate new or expecting mumma’s in what to be aware of and last week I spoke on Channel 4 with Steph’s Packed Lunch to highlight the importance of checking.
There’s currently no guidance or literature given out at midwife appointments, visits to the GP, birthing centres or health visits.
Imagine at every appointment you’re given a simple piece of paper to tell you to check your breasts throughout the whole pregnancy journey and beyond?
You probably wouldn’t put that ‘blocked milk duct’ to the back of your mind, or the nipple discharge when you’re feeding, or the dimply boobs after birth…there’s so many more things to be aware of.
I’d like to empower women to ‘know you're normal.’ And I’m thrilled to be working on a campaign to highlight the increased risk of breast cancer when your body is producing bucketloads of Oestrogen and progesterone in and after pregnancy; These hormones can accelerate the growth of breast cancer and one woman every week in the UK will be diagnosed with when pregnant. There’s not enough research into this area so those figures could be larger.
It can be really easy to tell yourself “I’ll get it checked when baby is here,” or “I’m sure it’ll go when I stop breastfeeding, I’ll see how I get on.”
But I feel that’s why some women can be diagnosed as late stage which is heartbreaking. If found early, breast cancer is curable….you can usually go on to have chemo during pregnancy and your baby will not be affected.
In my case, I was induced early and given a mastectomy 6 days later….which was all fun and games with the hormones rushing through my bod!
It’s not nice, I know it’s scary but believe me, living with incurable breast cancer when you have children is WAY scarier. Get it done!
Working together with the NHS, I’m hoping to see information given out at every pre and post-natal appointments, posters in maternity and scanning units, midwives giving out info along with health visitors and more.
We’re also looking to include it on the NHS App and with mum and baby brands too! So it’s pretty exciting to be introducing something to the public that I 100% know WILL save lives! OMGEEEE
For now, I’ll leave you to go and tell all your pregnant or new mummy friends to check!
Here’s what to look out for:
- Lumps or thickening
- Redness or Rash
- Nipple discharge and/or bleeding
- Dimpling or puckering
- Newly inverted nipples
- Sudden change in size or shape
- Unusual pain in breast or armpit
- Swelling
Make sure to check breasts, underarms and all the way up to your collarbone as all these areas contain breast tissue.
And remember, it will usually be nothing but that isn't reason enough to delay!
Product Of The Week
I like to share every week a product which has helped and this week, OMG I have found this little beauty to help with my ageing, puffy eyes and I am loving it.
It has a hot and cold setting and both are incredibly soothing. I use it on my temples when I have a headache too and it’s lovely.
My puffy eyes (which are relatively new and mortifying to me) are definitely better after I’ve used it. It’s currently on a big sale too. I’d love to hear what anyone else recommends for puffy eyes!
